


The Leaning Tower of Mandarin

by lobsterkaijin



Category: One Piece
Genre: Drabble, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:42:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24189856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lobsterkaijin/pseuds/lobsterkaijin
Summary: Otis makes for a very good foundation.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	The Leaning Tower of Mandarin

Otis is asleep at his desk. A long night, for sure, as all the Wisteria Guild’s crew seemingly finished their assignments at the same time and populated the Spider Monkey overnight. While the chatter was nice, the night was not ripe for work! Last night was one of special occasion, yet they left the young man out of the festivities by entrancing upon him the paperwork of a lifetime! How could Masaomi in all good conscience do the same? Of course he was the last to turn in his paperwork. He’s chosen a more reasonable time, that is, the next morning, when Otis is presumably less tired, more prepared for the day’s challenges. In hand he swings a bag of mandarins, which he’d thought Otis would like to share as they meandered through conversation on the guild’s inner workings. But the man is asleep!

Masaomi sits beside him and keeps close watch on every twitch, of which there were few, and on every mumble, of which there were many. He’s garbling numbers, even in his sleep. A tragedy. What has Raven been doing to him all night? He hasn’t even managed to put the transceiver back in its place, and all Masaomi hears is a dull monotone, indicating Raven had hung up the call ages ago.

It takes about five minutes before he has an idea. One mandarin, a mere trifle. Three, a party. Ten? How long are you going to be sleeping, man? Masaomi makes a tower of mandarins on Otis’s head, possible only because he doesn’t move an inch in his sleep.

He’s about to place the twentieth when his  _ very _ conscientious younger brother slams through the door and jerks Otis right out of his sleep. Masaomi sees the past lives of twenty mandarins flash before his very eyes. One of them had been a family man, once, until the mafia gunned down his entire lineage. The boss said hello. Another dreamed to be an opera singer, until her boyfriend choked the voice right out of her. Cruel irony. One was going to be the pirate king, but they were unaware that they had to be a pirate first, and died without ever having realized their dream.

Minoru is mistakenly sensing an attack and slashing the mandarins with devil speed. Masaomi is yelling  _ nooooooo _ and trying and failing to catch all the falling pieces. Otis is crying out at all the juice staining his paperwork. And then a single spared mandarin, as if finding purpose in life, sees the opportunity of Otis’s hanging mouth and takes the bull by the horns, escaping death. It lands perfectly in his open mouth. All at once, the action stops. The mandarin falls out of his mouth, drops to the floor, and rolls out of sight to freedom.

They all take a moment to appreciate the gore.

“That took me all night,” Otis says in a daze. His eye is hollow. The life left it centuries ago.

“I’ll… come back.” Minoru sheathes his blade and stomps out without a word.

“Well, Otis my boy, wasn’t that something!” Masaomi ruffles the young man’s hair, and begins to pick up the pieces, shoving them into his mouth whenever possible.

There’s a lull, and then Otis begins to laugh. “Mornin’, Masa.”

**Author's Note:**

> Otis belongs to [Madame_Tentacle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madame_Tentacle). If you want to read his story, start [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16221698/chapters/37916912).


End file.
